When I lived on gladstone a couple of years ago I once biked down the street on my way to an appointment, all stressed, and passed a man standing outside a church on the corner who said: here, have a veggie burger. He just gave it to me (there was a BBQ going on). And I swear it was the best burger I've had in my life. I still remember biting into it.

the worst veggie burger i've ever had was at kelseys. it looked like beef, smelled like beef and kinda tasted like what i imagine beef would taste like. after the first bite, i confirmed with the waitress that it was veggie, and she said it was. it had grease oozing out from it, and the bread was covered with mayo. and the bun was plain-white-wonderbread and smooshed down before i saw it. uuugggghhh...it was gross. but i was hungry, and ate half of it, entirely expecting to be sick afterwards.

but i came to a valuable conclusion: veggie burgers that are encrusted in meat from being on the same grill aren't really veggie burgers.

oh man, sharm, you would have had a fit today at olivia's bbq. the veggie dogs and meat dogs were cooked on the same grill with the same utensils and weren't even differentiated for the crazy hungry masses (it's kinda scary how people get when there's free food. geez!). we just served it all at the same time.

there were lots of meat burgers and at the end, we cooked up PC's lentil burgers. we ran out of buns, the patties were falling apart, we piled them all on a tray people still went for them. (of course i would have if i was in their position, but after working that table for a few hours, i just wanted them all to go away.)

yay for your bbq tomorrow (despite the craziness at today's!).

rabs: that's an awesome story. there we have it, what makes the best veggie burger one can ever taste is just getting handed one when you're all stressed rushing to an appt.

my fave: lick's. i'd get the patties from dominion's and spread cottage cheese on it. yummy. though i did get tired of it after awhile! :D

had one the other day. quite tasty. nice "meaty" texture. mushroomy taste, but not overpoweringly mushroomy.

I like how "think and juicy" is a trademark. and how they specify that it's "swiss cheese food" not simply swiss cheese.

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speaking of mushrooms. there's a cool art thing I saw art the harbourfront centre yesterday. in one of those rooms that fronts onto the street. mushroom art. someone was printing was mushrooms. the effect was quite lovely.

in the same room was a very large canvass that someone had painted using a tree. tree is also part of the display. as are pictures of this guy running at a large canvass with tree/brush.

the thing about veggie burgers is- it's often about emulating meat. or a meat eating experience anyway. i think that;s why so many ppl like the licks burger...you "can't believe it;s not meat!"

with that said, i used to make lentil burgers sometimes which were pretty good, using a recipe from how it all vegan. i haven't made them in a while - but i 'd use brown lentils, bread crumbs, wheat germ, onions, salt & pepper & olive oil.

hey pq! which veggie burgers have you tried that you haven't liked? yeah, veggie burgers seem to be made for people who miss meat or like meat but don't want to eat it. it's like a transitional veggie food.

honestly, I don't know which kinds of tried...just whatever in restaurants...but you are so right, veggie burgers are definitely transitional veggie foods...makes the switch over easier...eventually i'll have to make that switch...just not ready yet!!!! ahhh...sigh...soon i hope!

no way! it definitely wasn't transitional food for me. i hated veggie burgers for a long time, and only came back to them within the past few years. mostly because veggie options at some restaurants are limited. oh wait, mainly at bars. i guess if you want to have bar food, the veggie burger is the most available option.

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I like the veggie burgers from M&M meat shop. They don't fall apart when you cook them, they can be done in a lightly oiled frying pan, on a (clean and meatless) grill, or even in the microwave on a paper towel. Plus they don't taste like meat (I don't think, I don't remember what meat tastes like!). Try them! As for restaurant veggie burgers, there's a small restaurant in Eastern Ontario called "The Bohemian Penguin" The chefs are really nice and will cook the burgers in a frying pan if you ask them, definitely check out that place! (It's got lots of vegan options too). There's another veggie burger from A&P that is good too, I forget the name of them but its a 7-vegetable burger and its kind of orange looking with pieces of peas and other veggies. It's not that fantastic to look at but they definitely taste good with a bit of relish!